Shall Be Changed
by Medie
Summary: (Sequel to Those That Remain) The morning after Dana returns from the desert, Chloe Alexander faces John Doggett, her own fears, and the turmoil others are experiencing in the wake of Mulder's abduction


Shall Be Changed 1/1  
by M. Edison  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters in this story nor do I own  
the concepts of XF, just borrowing them for awhile. Chloe I do own and  
believe me, you wouldn't want her, that girl is a handful!  
  
Category: AU  
  
Feedback: Yes please, send to medison@thezone.net  
  
Archive: XFMU and Ephemeral (and onto Gossamer) anyone else, ask please  
  
Keywords: Pre & Post Ep fic, OC, Skinner/Other UST, angst, comfort  
  
Spoilers: Season 8 up to Patience  
  
Author's Notes: This is a sequel to the story Those That Remain. The line  
that the 2 titles are drawn from is a contemporary Christian song called The  
Midnight Cry. The line goes "and Those That Remain, Shall Be Changed." I  
refer to it in that after Mulder's disappearance, the characters go through  
a change of their own in that they all take on new roles and grow beyond the  
limitations they'd previously set for themselves.  
  
Thanks to Azar for the beta!!!  
  
Summary: The morning after Dana returns from the desert, Chloe Alexander  
faces John Doggett, her own fears, and the turmoil others are experiencing  
in the wake of Mulder's abduction  
  
Shall Be Changed  
by M. Edison  
---------------------  
The morning after her late-night chat with Dana, Chloe rose early and  
dressed quickly. Her mind was already fixed on her goal.  
  
A glance in the guest room told her that her friend was still sleeping.  
Good. Dana needed the rest.  
  
After leaving a note to Dana that her breakfast was being kept warm in the  
oven, Chloe grabbed her briefcase and overcoat then hurried out of the  
apartment.  
  
She had an appointment to keep.  
  
-----------------  
J. Edgar Hoover Building  
-----------------  
The way to the basement office was one that Chloe was intimately familiar  
with. She'd come this way many times before, both with her friends and  
without. Standing in the elevator, she could almost see Mulder next to her.  
She pictured him leaning against the wall with a grin on his face as he told  
her some bizarre story meant to either disgust her horribly or send her into  
fits of laughter. Usually both.  
  
Her throat tightened and tears threatened to spill. Lowering her head, Chloe  
's dark red wavy hair fell around her face like a privacy curtain as she  
tried to force the tears away. The last thing she needed was to face John  
Doggett looking like a blubbering idiot.  
  
-----------------  
  
When the elevator stopped and the doors slid open, Chloe fixed her ID,  
pushed her hair back, and strode down the hallway to the office. Without  
knocking, she opened the door to find the man from her vision--the man she'd  
met only in passing--ensconced at Mulder's desk, engrossed in a file.  
  
"Interesting reading?" She asked in a clipped voice.  
  
-----------------  
  
Doggett almost jumped when the woman spoke. She hadn't bothered to knock or  
announce her presence, and when he looked up he knew why.  
  
Special Agent Chloe Alexander. Former coworker of Mulder's in the ISU and  
reported good friend, also one of the few contacts of Mulder's he'd yet to  
interview.  
  
Oh well, better late than never.  
  
"As a matter of fact," he flipped the file folder shut and reached out for  
another one. A file without an X-File number, just a name. Chloe Alexander's  
name. "Very interestin'. Y'know, Agent Alexander, you're a hard lady to get  
ahold of."  
  
She smiled tightly. "It's a skill."  
  
He raised an eyebrow, a vaguely sardonic smile lighting his face. "Let me  
guess, you had a psychic flash that told you about my investigation? Or did  
Agent Scully get ahold of you to warn you?"  
  
"Neither." The female agent dropped into the chair before him, a calculating  
look in her eyes. "I was sick, therefore incommunicado, I have spoken to  
Agent Scully, but not until last night. She told me a most...intriguing  
story."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Mmhmmm.." Chloe nodded. "You tried to play profiler I'm told...get inside  
her head."  
  
"Yeah." He shrugged. "Standard procedure." Surprise registered on his face  
when Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Somethin' wrong, Agent Alexander?"  
  
"Forgive my suspicions, Agent Doggett, but the last time a temporary partner  
was assigned to the X-Files, he turned out to be a cold-blooded killer."  
  
Krycek. Doggett'd read about that guy. Hell, he'd read a profile on Krycek  
written by the very woman sitting before him. "I'm no killer, and I'm nobody  
's puppet."  
  
"As it turned out," Chloe noted smoothly. "He was nobody's puppet either.  
And I hope you don't expect me to take your word on that...especially not  
after the little fib to Dana."  
  
"Fib?"  
  
"You told her about 'the rumors'. What rumors are those, pray tell? You see  
Agent Doggett,there aren't many people in the FBI that Fox Mulder trusts and  
confides in, or in the world for that matter. In fact, I can think of two,  
three if you include AD Skinner, and those two are myself and Dana Scully.  
If you *really* knew him you'd know that. And you'd also know there is very  
little about Fox Mulder that she or I don't know."  
  
"You sure about that."  
  
"Completely." Chloe's green eyes stared steadily into his and, for a moment,  
John Doggett saw how deeply this was affecting her. Saw the hurt, the anger,  
the concern...and the fear. A whole lot of fear.  
  
She was terrified Mulder wasn't coming back.  
  
"I'm not the bad guy here, Agent Alexander." He reiterated with a  
considerably gentler tone. "I'm here to do a job...A bizarre job, but a job  
nonetheless. I'm gonna find Agent Mulder, that I promise you. I don't care  
*who* took him--aliens or the guys that pull Krycek's strings--I *will* find  
him. Regardless of what you or Agent Scully think of me."  
  
Rising from her chair, Chloe nodded stiffly. "Don't try anything like that  
with her again...or being assigned to the X-Files will be a bonus for your  
career in comparison to where you'll end up."  
  
John looked up at her. "Ma'am, if I pull something like that again, I'll ask  
for that reassignment myself."  
  
-----------------  
  
When Agent Alexander left the office, Doggett looked down at the file before  
him. Mulder had been very detailed in documenting her so-called visions. He'  
d also included the results of tests Agent Scully had run on the clairvoyant  
FBI agent.  
  
All in all, quite impressive. He was no doctor, but even he had to admit the  
results looked legitimate.  
  
Leaning back in his seat, the FBI agent contemplated the chair Agent  
Alexander had vacated moments before. It seemed as if Agent Scully had no  
shortage of protectors. First Assistant Director Skinner, now Agent  
Alexander...  
  
Sighing, Doggett closed the file again.  
  
Damn weird assignment...  
  
But then, what was there about the X-Files that wasn't weird?  
  
Reading through the files had given him a glimpse of what his predecessor  
and Agent Scully had faced over the course of their partnership, if you  
believed the reports. It made for pretty sensational reading.  
  
But the problem was, it was only the bare bones. Sanitized accounts of what  
had actually taken place. They didn't carry the feelings or frank thoughts  
of the agents who'd written them.  
  
"I need a cup of coffee," he decided as he rose to put the files away.  
"Clear my head."  
  
-----------------  
  
Smiling faintly at the secretary assigned to her and the other agents in the  
office block , Chloe walked into her office, quietly instructing her to hold  
all incoming calls.  
  
Having heard about Agent Mulder's disappearance, and knowing how close Chloe  
was to him, Karen smiled sympathetically at her boss and nodded. She had a  
hunch Agent Scully'd been to visit Chloe the night before and the reaction  
was finally settling in.  
  
As usual, Karen's knowledge of her employer was spot on. By the time the  
door closed behind her, tears were already running down her cheeks.  
  
"Oh God..." The simple prayer slipped from the profiler's lips as she  
reached for the photo of herself, Fox and Dana that sat on her desk--taken  
the first time she'd convinced them to attend a church picnic with her. She  
traced the smiling faces. Remembering.  
  
-----------------  
May 24, 1997  
A Park Near D.C.  
------------------  
  
"I can't believe you two convinced me to come to this thing." Fox Mulder  
grumbled good-naturedly as Chloe and Dana dragged him from Chloe's car.  
  
"Oh, quit whining, Fox." The taller redheaded agent grinned cheerfully at  
him. "It's a church picnic, completely harmless. Unless you count the old  
ladies who'll try to introduce you to their single granddaughters."  
  
"Relax Mulder," her partner in crime chimed in sweetly. "We promise not to  
baptize you when you're not looking."  
  
"We're still gonna do the prayer circle right?" Chloe asked, leaning behind  
Mulder's back in an exaggerated stage whisper.  
  
Dana grinned back. "Oh yeah, plus the exorcism."  
  
"Definitely can't forget that," her friend agreed with a snicker.  
  
"You two are kidding, right?" Mulder looked from one redhead to the other.  
  
Both Chloe and Dana looked back with looks of angelic innocence on their  
faces.  
  
"Right?"  
  
"Sure Mulder." His partner patted his shoulder. "We're kidding."  
  
"Somehow I doubt that, Scully."  
  
"You're paranoid, Mulder." Dana responded with a wry grin.  
  
"Ah, but am I paranoid enough?"  
  
His two female companions shook their heads and laughed.  
  
------------------  
Present day.  
-------------------  
Chloe set the picture down with numb fingers as tears turned to sobs.  
  
Despite her certain belief that her friend was alive, that he would come  
back alive, the fear and pain of his absence coupled with memories of her  
own kidnapping was just too much to bear.  
  
Standing there with her face in her hands, sobbing, Chloe barely noticed  
when the door opened and someone walked in. Logic said it was someone she  
knew well--Karen was a bear when it came to her privacy.  
  
There was a moment of hesitation then she was pulled into a comforting  
embrace.  
  
Grateful for the support, Chloe rested her head against a solid chest and  
cried brokenly.  
  
Nothing was said, only comfort offered and gratefully received.  
  
When her tears had subsided, she pulled away and a faint blush tinged her  
cheeks at the discovery of who stood before her.  
  
"Assistant Director Skinner..." She drew up to her full height and tried to  
meet his gaze steadily  
despite her embarrassment. "Can I help you?"  
  
He gave her a small smile, accompanied by an encouraging look. "Not really.  
I came down to see...to see how you were handling Mulder's...disappearance."  
  
It was a nice sentiment but Chloe could also tell it wasn't his only reason  
for being there.  
  
"I'm a wreck," she replied honestly. "But I'm coping. What about you?"  
  
His reaction to her question confirmed the profiler's suspicions. Skinner  
was having a harder time managing all of what he'd experienced than he was  
letting on.  
  
"Sir, Dana--Agent Scully--stayed at my apartment last night. She told me  
everything."  
  
That statement earned her a wary look from the tall Assistant Director.  
"Everything?"  
  
"I know about the baby if that's what you're wondering." She knew it was a  
blunt statement but Chloe was never one for dancing around a subject.  
"I...hmm...I had a..." All right, so there were some subjects she *did*  
dance around.  
  
"A vision?" Skinner put the word in for her and waited for the red-haired  
woman's nod. When it came he accepted it with a nod of his own.  
  
He'd never been too accepting of Agent Alexander's 'gift' despite Mulder's  
insistence upon its validity. Now, with every thing that had happened over  
the last few weeks--Mulder's abduction and the events in Arizona--suddenly  
he found himself questioning all of the things he'd formerly dismissed out  
of hand. Like Chloe Alexander's supposed clairvoyance.  
  
Watching him, Chloe could see the internal struggle and she couldn't help  
reaching out to touch his arm. "Forgive me for saying this, Sir...but you  
seem troubled. It's hard to face, isn't it? The possibility of being wrong."  
  
He looked into her face in surprise and saw her empathy there. "You mean..."  
  
The redhead chuckled. "That I'm only recently beginning to completely  
believe Fox's theories? Believe in aliens? You betcha...it was never  
something I could quite bring myself to swallow. But now..."  
  
"You don't have much of a choice," Skinner agreed. "I'm sure you're aware of  
my..."  
  
"Resistance to anything paranormal, including my purported clairvoyant  
abilities?" Chloe gestured for him to sit in one of the chairs before her  
desk while she settled into the other one. "Oh yeah. I know." She grinned.  
"Who do you think he vented to when Dana booted him out of the office?"  
  
"Booted him?" The eyebrow went up and a vague smile hinted at the edges of  
the Assistant Director's mouth.  
  
"Oh yeah. Dana Scully has a lot of patience when it comes to Fox Mulder but  
even she has her breaking point. And when she reached it, he'd show up in my  
office with two packs of sunflower seeds, one shelled and one not, plus a  
few sodas and we'd have a snack while he vented." She chuckled. "Closest  
thing to therapy he ever got, or probably ever will get. Fox has never been  
too supportive of that suggestion."  
  
"You wanted him to have therapy?" Skinner queried with a surprised look.  
  
"Sure I did," Chloe answered with a nod. "Sir, I was a lot older than Fox  
when I was kidnapped and I still needed therapy to sort everything out. Yes,  
my end of the experience was probably more traumatic than being the one left  
behind, but nevertheless, Fox has never really dealt with the disappearance  
of Samantha. And, whether he likes it or not, that does affect how he  
approaches life."  
  
"The recklessness?"  
  
"That too. Not to mention how he relates to authority figures and women ."  
The profiler smiled wryly at the man sitting before her."Which I'm sure  
you're quite aware of--the former anyway."  
  
The Assistant Director couldn't help but grin back. "No doubts there, Agent  
Alexander."  
  
"Chloe." She corrected automatically.  
  
He looked at her curiously and she realized she'd spoken aloud. A tinge of  
red darkened her cheeks.  
  
"I, uh, tend to get very annoyed with the FBI's love of bureaucracy,  
especially when it comes to titles." Regaining her composure, the redhead  
picked at a piece of lint on her pants. "Guess I've worked with one too many  
good ole' boys."  
  
A picture of how she probably dealt with those agents appeared in Walter's  
mind and he couldn't help but chuckle wryly. "I'm sure they 'd learned their  
lessons by the time you were done with them."  
  
A hint of Chloe's mischievous nature shone through in her eyes as she  
grinned back at him. "Well, I don't know if they learned their lessons but  
they definitely learned I can be quite the handful when annoyed." Leaning  
forward, as if confiding some great secret, she winked. "It's the red hair.  
Can't help myself."  
  
The unexpected joke brought a laugh from the Assistant Director who shook  
his head at the mercurial woman sitting before him. "That would be one  
explanation for it yes." he countered, shaking his head. "Though, I prefer  
Agent Mulder's description."  
  
"And dare I ask what that is?" Chloe asked with a bemused smile.  
  
"A natural-born troublemaker," came the calm response.  
  
"And just *when* did he say that?"  
  
"On more than one occasion." Skinner's smile widened ever so slightly.  
"Always to Agent Scully. I just happened to overhear."  
  
"Yeah...right." Chloe grinned. "Nice try, Sir, but I know Fox. He'd tell  
anybody that'd listen, save the Cigarette Smoking Man...No, he'd probably  
tell him too." She shook her head at the last bit and laughed softly before  
her expression sobered. "Now that we've thoroughly danced around it, feel  
like talking about what brought you down here?"  
  
"I thought we'd covered that," Skinner countered. "And if I have to call you  
Chloe then you have to call me Walter.'  
  
She smiled and nodded. "All right, Sir - I mean Walter." Blushing briefly,  
she continued on. "Why don't you start by telling me *exactly* what you  
saw..."  
  
-----------------  
Doggett's Hospital Room  
A few weeks later...  
------------------  
  
Opening his eyes, John Doggett's first real thought was that his neck  
itched. Correction--the bandages on his neck itched. His neck *hurt.*  
  
Automatically he reached up to touch the gauze, tracing the outline of it  
with a slow hand. It brought back blurred memories of...his attacker.  
Looking at things in the light of day he wasn't sure whether or not the  
creature was a man-bat--or whatever the hell the locals called it--but he  
certainly wasn't going to doubt it was the killer. Which is why he kept  
trying to convince himself that they'd gotten it. With both Agent Scully and  
he shooting...one of them had to have hit it.  
  
It was dead.  
  
"Right..." he muttered dryly to himself.  
  
Coughing and trying to clear his throat, John reached for the jug of water  
sitting on the table across his bed and filled a glass. After taking a few  
sips, he set the glass aside and hit the call button.  
  
There was one thing John Doggett hated with a passion and that was being  
cooped up in a hospital bed when there was no need for him to be there.  
  
And in his opinion, there was no reason for him to be in this bed staring at  
the four walls.  
  
The door opened and he started to complain. "When can I..."  
  
"Get out of that bed?" Chloe Alexander asked with a wry smile. "Just as soon  
as the doctors decide you're okay to leave Agent Doggett."  
  
Sitting up, Doggett stared in surprise at the last person he expected to see  
in his hospital room. "Agent Alexander?! You lost or somethin'?"  
  
Chloe, having the good grace to be chagrined at his shocked reaction to her  
presence, looked away at the window for a moment before wandering over to  
pick at the blanket on the bed next to his. "Didn't get a private room,  
huh?"  
  
Sensing her discomfort, John - ever the gentleman - tried to put her at ease  
and chuckled. "On the government's tab? You delusional there, Agent  
Alexander?"  
  
"Some have said so," the redhead responded with a wry smile, glancing over  
at him through her hair. "They're the ones who tell me I'm letting Mulder's  
paranoia rub off. They might be right there." Pulling herself up onto the  
empty bed, Chloe rested her hands on either side of her and worked very hard  
to meet his eyes steadily. "Dana...er, Agent Scully tells me you saved her  
life."  
  
Now it was Doggett's turn to be uncomfortable and he looked down at a piece  
of fuzz on the blanket covering his legs. "More like she saved mine."  
  
"Not the way she tells it." Chloe sucked in a deep breath and bit at her  
lower lip slightly. "It appears, Agent Doggett, I may have been more than a  
little hasty in my judgment of you - its really not like me, I must admit,  
but I did it nevertheless." Seeing him about to open his mouth to argue, she  
held up a hand to forestall any comments. "Yeah, you might have made a  
mistake, but I went off the deep end when it came to my reaction - I  
certainly had no right to march into that office and threaten your career.  
You seem to have proved me wrong...now, this doesn't mean you have my  
complete and total trust, that you have to earn." She exhaled and blushed  
slightly. "But it does earn you an apology on my part."  
  
That said, she hopped down off the bed and hurried toward the door, aiming  
to get out before he could recover from the shocked look on his face and say  
something. At the last moment, she paused at the door and turned to look  
back at him, an impish grin lighting her face. "Welcome to the X-Files,  
Agent Doggett. Hope your insurance is paid up, and you might want to get  
over that intense dislike of hospitals. With this assignment, you'll  
certainly see enough of them." With that, she ducked out, letting the door  
swing shut behind her.  
  
There was a long silence after that, with a very confused John Doggett  
staring at the door in shock. When he finally snapped out of it, and  
realized that yes - Agent Alexander had just walked in to his hospital room.  
And yes, she had apologized to him before quickly leaving.  
  
Processing her warning, the FBI agent shook his head and sighed before  
speaking to the empty room.  
  
"Damn weird assignment...and I ain't talkin' about the cases either. Damn  
strange people...But I think I like 'em."  
  
Finis 


End file.
